Venezuela Election Protests: 7 Dead, 61 Injured in Street Violence

After a Sunday presidential vote that split Venezuelans between Hugo Chavez's heir Nicolas Maduro and popular opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, supporters of both candidates have taken to streets to protest what each side sees as the illegitimate nature of the opposing campaign.

Maduro supporters, or Chavistas, who insist their candidate's narrow victory (200,000+ votes) is legitimate and constitutional deride Capriles supporters as "right-win," "fascists," and "Zionists" (Capriles' mother is Jewish) and accuse them of instigating violence and even plotting a coup d'etat against Maduro. However, Capriles supporters say Maduro stole the election — given to what they see as the 14-year-old regime's abuses of power, cronyism and corruption. Meanwhile, Venezuela's Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz told Reuters on Tuesday that the post-election toll has risen to seven dead and 61 injured — which she unsurprisingly blames on the opposition.